Christopher Makos is an American photographer known for capturing the energy, personalities, and shifting cultural currents of New York from the 1970s onward. A protégé of Man Ray and a close friend of Andy Warhol, Makos emerged at the intersection of art, fashion, and celebrity portraiture, bringing a sharp, modern, and often irreverent perspective to the medium. His background in both photojournalism and avant-garde experimentation allowed him to move fluidly between documenting real moments and crafting images that feel staged, performative, and iconic.

Makos is best known for his intimate photographs of Warhol, including the celebrated Altered Image series, where he transformed Warhol into a set of gender-bending personas—a radical exploration of identity and image in the early 1980s. His access to the Factory and downtown art scene gave him a unique vantage point to chronicle figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Debbie Harry, and countless others at formative moments in their careers. These portraits capture not just likeness but atmosphere: the charisma, chaos, and creative electricity of New York’s cultural vanguard.

Across his broader practice, Makos pairs clean, graphic compositions with a candid, spontaneous sensibility. Whether photographing artists, musicians, or everyday street scenes, he brings a sense of immediacy that blurs documentation and storytelling. His work ultimately reflects a deep understanding of how images construct myth—how a photograph can become the definitive version of a person, a moment, or an era.